aands
Why Loving the Prodigal Matters So Much by Christa Hardin
2/5/24
Luke 15:31
Trying, once again,
To get myself out of the prodigal older brothers’ shoes,
Out of the rage of indignation,
And into the Light of forgiveness and more, active love.
But the question haunts:
Why should I be happy when the vagrant comes home?
When the person who did no work and caroused and used and shamed and left others for the labor comes home?
Because the world is practical and unlike me, not romantic.
The world needs more of us seeking to redeem.
Maybe this beloved person will cure cancer or
save a child,
Or help someone feel less depressed.
Maybe we love because we too have at sometime or other fallen into darkness,
And also needed redemption.
At the end of the day we are all the prodigal and we are all also his brother and sister
And the truth is, there’s more good that can be done,
In this hurting world,
With more of us,
More of us being kind,
More of us with hearts of joy
And more of us who are now receiving love in exchange for the inner shame that spilled out to shame others (for my love, that is what that ugly deed was).
Therefore, to everyone who has need and who is humbly seeking in any way at all, (even just a little because it’s a new journey for them)
Let us take a deep breath and then stretch out hands of kindness,
Pushing against the cloak of darkness and shame and in-groups that are based upon survival of the fittest and bringing others instead to relationships based on and only on the lavish love of Christ,
More of us, once for all,
Emanating the Light.